Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #681 of 758 in New York. What drives it
Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1840.
The Perth post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, West Perth (1842) and West Galway (1849), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Perth is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #681 of 758 in New York. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Perth’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1920, then grew 6-fold.
18 censuses, 1840–2010.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Perth’s Wikipedia page.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Perth’s history is told.
Perth had its own post office from 1840 to 1905. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Perth.
The land was first settled circa 1772 by pioneers from Scotland. The town of Perth was formed from part of the town of Amsterdam in 1838, when Fulton County was created. In 1842, the size of the town was increased by the annexation of land from the towns of Broadalbin and Mayfield.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Perth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
or any of his progenitors, or by the Popes for the time, or by in favour of the complainers or their predecessors, the magistrates and council of Perth, or of the parsons of Perth, concerning the manse of the parish kirk of Perth, and of the pertinents, commonly called the Great College, lying in our said burgh of Perth on the west side of the kirkyard thereof between the yard on
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
William, by the Grace of God King of Scots, to all good men both clergy and laity, greeting. I absolutely forbid any foreign merchant within the county of Perth outside my burgh of Perth to sell or buy anything contrary to my prohibition, but a foreign merchant may come with his wares to my burgh of Perth, and there sell them and exchange his money. But if any foreign merchant contrary to
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereRobert P. Aitken is born here
Born hereJohn Knox Stewart is born here
In the archiveKingsboro (Village); Mayfield Fulton Co. (Township); Northampton (Village); Vails Mills (…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveDuncan McIntyre House, Perth Fulton Co., N.E. Elevation. - Duncan McIntyre House2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Nelson E. Baldwin…
Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Nelson E. Baldwin…
Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Nelson E. Baldwin…
Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Nelson E. Baldwin…
Date?Historic American Buildings Survey, Nelson E. Baldwin…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 0 of 15) - United Presbyte…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 1 of 15) - United Presbyte…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 10 of 15) - United Presbyt…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 11 of 15) - United Presbyt…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 12 of 15) - United Presbyt…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 13 of 15) - United Presbyt…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 14 of 15) - United Presbyt…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 15 of 15) - United Presbyt…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 2 of 15) - United Presbyte…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 3 of 15) - United Presbyte…
Date?HABS NY,18-PERTH,1- (sheet 4 of 15) - United Presbyte…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Perth. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Perth.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Perth’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Perth post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Perth is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #681 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
13% of Perth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1984.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (18), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
